


In the After

by AnxiousCupcake



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Drama, Humour, Insecurity, Mild Angst, NOT a love triangle, conflicted feelings, mild jealousy, post 100 year quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-01-20 21:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21288146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: The White Mage has been defeated and Lucy decides to admit her feelings to her best friend. But the unprecedented presence of Touka blindsides her and she finds her confidence wavering as she debates whether or not to go through with her resolution.
Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia
Comments: 25
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What am I doing here when I have so many unfinished fics already? Simple. I'm a clown. Why am I like this? I wish I knew :) But this is going to be a short one, not more than 5 chapters, MAXIMUM. Let me know what you think!

The Hundred Year Quest was finally finished. The White Mage had been taken down. It was finished and everyone was exhausted. Everyone was at a small port city at Guiltina, waiting for the next ship off the continent. Lucy watched everyone wearily shuffle about in the reception of the inn they were to spend the night in. Her gaze flickered over to the pink-haired dragon slayer, who was now chatting with Mercuphobia, who had graciously accompanied them to see them off. 

She grimaced at the sight of Touka hanging right by Natsu’s elbow and looked away to stare at her tightly clasped hands in her lap. The girl hadn’t left Natsu’s side since the White Mage had been expelled from her. Lucy hated herself for the feeling of resentment because really, she shouldn’t care. She shouldn’t be jealous. But she was. She was also hurt, because not once did Natsu ask the girl to leave him alone.   
  
She sighed internally, chiding herself. Maybe he didn’t care _ that _way. Maybe it was all in her head that the relationship between her and her bestfriend was blossoming into something more. She looked up again to see Natsu was watching her, brows knit in mild concern as he looked at her questioningly. 

“Nothing,” she said softly, knowing he would catch her words. 

His frown only deepened, and before he could say anything, Happy flew into her vision, blocking her line of sight. When she looked at him questioningly, he held up keys in her face. 

“I got us a room!!”

“Us?” 

“Yeah! Team Natsu!”

Lucy smiled at the cat and took the keys from him, standing up as Happy perched on her shoulder. Natsu was at her side in an instant, starting to help with their luggage as Lucy quietly lead the way, lost in thoughts. 

She’d been wanting to admit her feelings to him for quite some time now. She’d finally felt ready, after months of debating and internal conflict. She gave him a sidelong glance and opened her mouth to say something when she felt light nudge to her left, and much to her irritation, it was Touka. The girl squeezed herself between them, batting her eyes at Natsu as she started to ask him something about dragon slayer magic. 

Huffing, she lagged behind, letting the two conversing mages pass by. Natsu didn’t even notice and she swallowed down a frustrated grunt. Immediately, she felt two soft paws land on her cheeks as Happy peered at her from the top of her head. 

“Is something wrong, Lucy?” 

Lucy sighed, reaching up to the Exceed and hugging him tight to herself, soaking in the familiarity of the softness and warmth. 

“Nothing, Happy, I’m okay,” she said softly. “Thanks for asking.”

He turned again to look at her, still unconvinced but she simply smiled at him and headed towards the room. Ignoring the clenching in her gut when she saw Natsu and Touka talking in the doorway, she went up to them, giving both of them a polite smile each before she opened the door to their room and stepped in. Only to freeze. 

“_ Happy _! There’s… only one bed,” she said slowly. “How will the five of us fit in here!”

Happy dislodged himself from her arms and cocked his head at her. “Five? There’s only three of us, Lucy.”

“You said… Team Natsu…” said Lucy lamely, not taking her eyes off of the bed. 

“Yeah, we _ are _Team Natsu,” said Happy, as if that should’ve been obvious. “There’s three of us. Have you forgotten how to count? Is that why you are upset?”

“Luce? Why are you upset?” asked Natsu suddenly from the doorway, looking over his shoulder at her.

Biting back a sharp reply, she swatted her hands in a dismissive way. “I’m not upset. I was just asking Happy about…”

She came up empty. She had no idea why the thought of it was wracking her nerves because by now, she was pretty used to sharing a bed with the dragon slayer. It was as common as it was for him to rob her of her breakfast. Which was, well, _ pretty _common. 

She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Never mind. I need to take a shower.”

Natsu exchanged a questioning look with Happy, who shrugged and looked at Lucy with concern as she shuffled around the room to gather her things for the shower. She didn’t see Natsu dropping his conversation with Touka mid-sentence as he absent-mindedly bid her a good night as Happy flew over his head to close the door as politely as he could in her somewhat irritated and upset face.

Natsu walked over straight to Lucy, and caught her arm, forcing her restless shuffling come to a halt. 

“What’s wrong, Luce?” he asked, voice soft. 

She shook her head before rubbing at her temples as she squirmed out of his grip. “Nothing, I’m just… tired. It’s been a long day.”

He let her go, watching as she hurriedly walked into the bathroom before sitting on the edge of the bed. 

Once under the shower, she started feeling guilty for her cold treatment. She knew Natsu tended to worry. _ If only she could get her head back on her shoulders. _She had no idea why she was suddenly feeling so thrown off. Scratch that, she did have an idea. 

_ Touka. _

Something uneasy stirred in her gut when she thought of the latest Fairy Tail member. Juvia had told her all about Touka. The girl’s obsession with Natsu bothered even Juvia, and that was saying something. And the fact that the girl had chosen the apartment right next to hers? She was _ not _looking forward to that. 

She closed her eyes as she turned the water to a more scalding temperature, inhaling shakily as she let her forehead rest against the cool tile of the shower. 

Things weren’t so complicated yesterday. 

What happened?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. _ I’m just chickening out, _ she thought miserably. It had been easy to think some time during their quest that she’d admit her feelings after the quest. But now that it was _ after _… 

Grunting, she turned the shower off and stepped out of the booth. Ten minutes later, having dried herself and fully clothed, she stepped out into the room again, ready to plaster her smile and pretend that _ everything was just fine. _

As soon as she stepped out, Natsu’s head shot up, sitting exactly where she’d left him, brows furrowed with concern. Immediately, she felt guilt settling in again and she went up to him with a grin. 

“I’m so much better now,” she said. “The shower really works wonders, huh?”

When he looked at her unsurely, she took his hands in hers and pulled him to his feet .”_ Go _. It’s your turn now. You’ll feel very refreshed!” she said with faux joy. 

He didn’t budge, but continued to look at her unconvinved when she finally said, “Listen, Mister, if we’re gonna be sharing the bed, you better get cleaned up, alright?”

Finally, he grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”


	2. Chapter 2

Lucy lay in the bed, as far to one side as she possibly could, face turned towards the wall the bed was against. Happy was curled up in front of her, already fast asleep judging by the soft purring coming from him as he nestled up between Lucy’s tummy and the wall. 

She inhaled deeply, counting in her head as she exhaled. She knew she had absolutely no reason to be this frustrated. Aside from the fact that she  _ really  _ wanted to tell her bestfriend how she felt about him, but the number of times she’d swung back and forth on the idea just the last twenty four hours was giving her whiplash. 

Touka being around made it all the more difficult, and she wasn’t sure why.

Scratch that, she did. She’d never really worried about “competition” per se. But now, the way Touka’s eyes shined when she looked at him, or the slight rosy dusting on her cheeks made her apprehensive. It made her wonder if she’d maybe waited too long. It made her doubt whether all the ‘moments’ she thought she’d had with him were made up in her head. 

She heard the door of the bathroom open. A little bit of shuffling around for a few minutes and she felt the bed dip. Then, a warm arm snaked around her waist and tugged, pulling her back flush against his chest. She felt him tuck her into him, chin on the top of her head as he breathed in deeply. She turned her head slightly, keeping her eyes on the taut muscles of his neck. 

“Hey, Natsu?”

_ Just tell him. It’s now or never.  _

“Yeah?” he asked through a yawn. 

Her fingers lightly brushed against his arm wrapped around her waist, as she worried her lower lip. She felt her throat dry and she turned back again to stare at the wall, doubt invading her again. The words would change everything, and she knew that. What she didn’t know, was whether it would be for the better or for worse. If you’d asked her only two days ago, she would’ve been confident of the positive outcome of her confession. Now, she wasn’t sure. There was something so real and scary about getting the words out of her mouth, knowing the impact they could have. 

So she curled her fingers around his arm, and prying it off her waist she intertwined her hand in his and brought it up to tuck under her cheek. If she’d turned back, she would have seen the way his eyes widened as she stared at the back of her head, and the way his breath hitched just slightly. 

“Good night, Natsu,” she murmured, oblivious to his soft smile as he closed his eyes and snuggled into her hair to fall asleep to her scent. 

“Good night, Luce,” he said quietly.

* * *

The next morning, she was woken by sharp rapping against her door.  _ Erza _ . The ship was about to dock and they needed to hurry. She groaned internally, completely and truly comfortable in her position and she didn’t want to move. But she blinked open her eyes at last, and felt her heartrate pick up when she realized her face was tucked into Natsu’s shoulder and he had a leg draped around her hip. Their intertwined arms lay pressed between both their chests, and she had the sudden urge to wrench herself out of his grip. She swallowed thickly, trying to focus on her breathing to steady her heartbeat, till Natsu started to stir. She lay there, eyes unblinking and superaware that her nose was touching his collarbone. 

“Luce?” he said sleepily. “Everything okay?”

“Peachy,” she said, her voice slightly ragged. 

“Why is your heart hammering like that?” he asked with a yawn. 

She flushed beet red. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled lazily but made no move to... _ move. _

“H-Hey, Natsu, Erza was just here,” she said slowly. “We need to get a move on. The ship to Hargeon will leave in about half an hour.”

Natsu groaned, tightening his hold on her. “I don’t wanna leave just yet,” he whined. “I’m still so sleepy.”

At this, she chuckled.  _ How typical _ . “Come on, Natsu,” she said soothingly, her hand going up to thread through his hair soothingly. He grunted and, just like she knew he would, he leaned into her touch just slightly and slowly loosened his grip on her. He turned to lay on his back, stretching while she sat up, and woke Happy up as well. Once Happy was awake, she turned face Natsu in hopes of catching some of the sunlight streaming through the window behind her on her back, only to see that he was looking at her funny. 

Feeling the heat of t little self-conscious, she threaded her fingers through her dishevelled golden hair as she asked him, “What?”

She wouldn’t know that he was admiring how golden her hair looked lit up by the sunlight. How though she’d just woken up, hair dishvelled and loose as it fell around her shoulders, she looked beautiful. Instead, she shrugged it off when Natsu just cleared his throat. “Uh, nothing. Spaced out for a little bit.”’

She didn’t miss the way the blood rushed to his tan cheeks, and she watched him curiously as he jumped out of bed to head into the bathroom, promising her he’d be out quick. She smiled to herself as she got off the bed as well, shuffling towards the bag on the dresser to get out a fresh pair of clothes. She pulled hers out and then lay his on the bed for him to get when he stepped out. 

This…  _ This  _ here was exactly why she’d felt confident in the first place. There was no reason to worry  _ at  _ all. She began to wonder why she’d been worried at all. 

* * *

_ Ah, yes. Touka.  _

Lucy stood on the deck of the ship, watching the hull of the ship slice open the sea. She tried to focus on the ripples and the patterns the wisps of white foam created on the sea instead of the sound of Touka’s giggling. Giggling while Natsu made patterns that she asked for using his flames. That idiot loved showing off and never missed an opportunity to do it. He was shockingly sprightly on the ship thanks to Wendy’s new and enhanced spell of Troia.

She hated the feeling of jealousy. She tried to quell the resentment against Touka because really, the girl seemed genuinely excited about the whole thing. There was nothing malicious about anything. Who  _ wouldn’t  _ love Natsu Dragneel. Lucy snorted at the thought, and briefly considered summoning Aquarius just so she could rant about her boy problems. But while being on the ship with the rest of the guild and other civilians? That  _ may  _ not be a good idea just  _ in case  _ she happened to be in a bad mood. 

Ever since Lucy had gotten Aquarius’s key back, the mermaid had been gentle with her. Gentle for Aquarius, at least. She still called her a brat and other names, still tried to “drown” her. But now, there were occasional rough ruffling of her hair before she disappeared, or a smile behind that scowl. Lucy took the key out of her ring and eyed it again before looking over her shoulder to see Touka staring entranced at the miniature flame version of Happy floating over Natsu’s palm. She raised her key and swished it slightly, creating a soft blue glow before Aquarius appeared, arms crossed. 

“Took you long enough, brat,” Aquarius grimaced. “Your feelings were starting to give me a headache.”

Lucy grinned at her sheepishly and Aquarius looked right over Lucy’s shoulder with a quirked eyebrow. 

“You’ve got competition.”

Lucy pouted petulantly as she sank to the floor to sit cross-legged on the wooden floor of the deck. Aquarius sat beside, her tail arching around Lucy’s back as she supported herself on a hand, palm flat on the floor.

“What’re you doing about it?” asked Aquarius, rolling her eyes when Lucy looked at her questioningly. “About  _ her _ ...”

Lucy grimaced. “Nothing.”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you haven’t told the idiot yet,” said Aquarius knowingly. 

“No,” she said, voice quiet. 

Aquarius shook her head at Lucy. “ _ Go away, Aquarius _ ,” she said, voice high-pitched in an imitation of Lucy. “ _ Now is not the time, Aquarius! I’ll tell him after we’re done with the mission, Aquarius! _ ”

“I don’t sound like that,” scowled Lucy, crossing her arms. “And I didn’t say your name  _ that  _ much!”

Aquarius ignored her as she continued. “ _ You don’t understand, Aquarius. This has to wait, Aquarius.  _ And now I’m too chicken to say anything because the moment has come and I’ve run out of excuses, Aquarius!” 

At the last one, she looked at Lucy pointedly, making her flush red and stick out her tongue at her. After a few moments of petulant silence, she told Aquarius about Touka, and as the story proceeded, much to Lucy’s annoyance, Aquarius only looked amused. 

“ _ It’s not funny _ ,” snapped Lucy. “She’s my  _ neighbour,  _ Aquarius! I’m not looking forward to that,” she ended with a groan. 

“Lucy,” sighed Aquarius, dropping her irritated demeanour. “That girl has been pretty open about how she feels, yes?”

“Yeah,” muttered Lucy. 

“And he’s not really done anything about it, has he?” 

Lucy looked over to see Natsu now engaged in a fistfight, Touka forgotten as she sat on a nearby crate with an adoring, borderline lustful look that only served to irritate Lucy;  _ she really is worse than Juvia _ . Grimacing, she looked away. “No, he hasn’t.”

“See? You have nothing to worry about. If she can be so open about it to a guy she  _ barely  _ even knows, then, you definitely can be too.”

“Well,  _ she  _ doesn’t have to worry about her best friend rejecting her,” said Lucy defensively, crossing her arms. 

“So that’s what this is about?"

“Kind of?” said Lucy, looking at her friend. “I don’t really know. Sometimes, I’m so confident about it. And sometimes, I’m just… scared. Why wouldn’t he have told me already?”

“Maybe he’s afraid of the same things you are,” said Aquarius with an out-of-character gentleness. 

“But he doesn’t  _ have  _ to be!” 

“He doesn’t know that,” shrugged Aquarius. “Just like you don’t.”

“But-”

Aquarius scowled at her, irritation flaring again. “Listen, brat, do as I say, just  _ tell  _ him first.  _ One  _ of you idiots has to do something about it. I can’t stand this whining.  _ Do  _ something about it.”

Lucy blinked at her outburst before she enveloped the mermaid into a hug. Aquarius’s face broke into a reluctant smile, and she muttered, “And maybe if you finally have a boyfriend, you’ll stop annoying me so much.”

Lucy chuckled and drew back. “Thanks, Aquarius.”

With a pat of acknowledgement on Lucy’s head, the mermaid disappeared with a warning, “ _ Tell him _ ,”, leaving Lucy to mull over her thoughts and words again as she watched her favourite dragon slayer with a soft smile. 

_ I will. I’ll tell him when we get home.  _ She didn’t want nor need an audience. 


	3. Chapter 3

Lucy was livid. There was no denying it, she was  _ livid.  _ LIVID. Five minutes, she stopped for  _ five minutes  _ to look at a dress on the way to the station at Hargeon. Somehow she fell behind, got a little late and just as she ran into the station and jumped aboard the train, it started to move. The relief of not having missed the train to Magnolia was short lived though. 

She’d found the compartment that the guild members were in, blanching as she saw Touka give a tug to a green-looking Natsu letting his head on her lap. She took a minute to compose herself, knowing it would look ridiculous if she lashed out about it. Though she wanted to…  _ Oh  _ did she want to. So she pursed her lips, forced them into a smile and slid into the empty seat next to Erza, who acknowledged her with a nod. 

Now seated across Natsu and…  _ Touka _ … Lucy crossed her arms tightly against her chest, and kept her gaze fixed on the window, eyes on the trees as the train entered the countryside. She found herself wishing Wendy hadn’t been so tired that she couldn’t do another powerful Troia spell. Her tolerance was running low. Admittedly she’d decided to wait till they got to Magnolia before confessing her feelings to him, but the more time she had to mull over it, the more nervous she became.

What if he didn’t-

From the corner of her eye, she saw Touka’s hand playing with the still groaning Natsu’s hair and she almost told her that Natsu did not like that when he was nauseous. She wanted to be petty, but seeing the discomfort on his face, she simply sighed, dragging her eyes reluctantly to Touka. 

“He doesn’t like that,” she said tiredly, looking pointedly at her. 

Touka, who seemed oblivious to his pained grunts though she was staring at his face, looked up at Lucy with eyebrows raised. “What?”

“Playing with his hair when he’s sick. It doesn’t help.” She sighed again. “You need to…”

Another sigh as she leaned over to cover his forehead and his eyes, which fluttered close when she touched him. Then, she let the tips of her fingers apply gentle pressure to his temple, and the heel of her palm applied pressure to his other temple, rhythmically alternating. 

“There,” she said, looking at Touka to see if she got it, ready to draw back when Natsu caught her wrist and grunted her name, continuing to keep her hand pressed to his forehead. 

Lucy chuckled lightly, only just a tad embarrassed as she shot a semi apologetic look to Touka, who was looking at her indignantly, the tip of her nose starting to turn red. Lucy simply shrugged at her sheepishly, gesturing to Natsu’s grip on her wrist as she continued to try to ease him. She was grateful that Erza didn’t make any comments.

After a few seconds, she started to feel a sharp pain in her lower back from crouching over the aisle the way she was right now. She was considering just drawing back and letting Touka take over, but Natsu relaxed under her touch and sighed contently.  _ Damn it.  _ She felt his eyes open under her palm, and she lifted her hand up to peer at him questioningly. 

“Your back must be hurting,” he said, voice a little strained.

“It’s just another forty-five minutes,” she said, smiling at him. 

He huffed, and sat up groaning again, lurching just a little bit. 

“What’re you doing?” asked Lucy, starting to stand, brows knitting with concern.

“Ya mind switching?” he asked, voice raspy, ignoring Lucy as he looked at Erza, eyes narrow and scrunched, hand around his stomach..

Erza’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Of course not,” she said, standing up and grabbing Natsu by the arm to guide him over to where she’d been sitting before plopping down next to Touka. 

Then Natsu caught Lucy by the elbow, who was still standing looking a little confused, and tugged her back to sit down. The second she was back on her seat, Natsu huffed again, letting himself fall sidewards and onto her lap. She yelped softly in surprise, throat dry when Natsu reached for her hand again and stuck it on his forehead.

She licked her lips nervously, to shoot a miffed Touka an apologetic look. “I… Sorry, it’s not personal,” she said, trying to smile. “It’s…. A habit, I think,” she said weakly, hoping that the girl wasn’t offended or anything.

“It’s not a habit,” he muttered, and Lucy could feel the scowl on his face under her palm. “It only works when you do it.”

“Fine, you big baby,” said Lucy, pretending to be annoyed but smiling at him all the same. 

Natsu dozed off in about five minutes.

* * *

When the train pulled into Magnolia station, people from her compartment began to file out slowly, leaving her to wake Natsu - including Happy (with Wendy and Carla), much to Lucy’s annoyance because  _ she would need help, goddamit  _ \- because everyone knew that it wasn’t an easy feat. Lucy secretly thanked Erza for dragging Touka along as well because she didn’t want to cause more delays than necessary. 

As per usual, she started by calling Natsu’s name softly. And as per usual, he didn’t budge. She sighed, hands reaching out to pat his cheeks; it worked sometimes, but mostly, not. Apparently today wasn’t a lucky day as Natsu continued to lay in her lap, oblivious to the world. 

“Natsu,” she cooed softly, “ _ Come on _ ,” she said, trying to shake him a little harder. Two more minutes or Erza would storm back in and wake him up her way, which was not very pleasant. 

She stared at his face, turned slightly so his nose brushed against her belly. She couldn’t help the small smile on her face as she watched him sleep, carefully reaching out to brush away some of his hair out of his face. And before she could stop herself, she leaned lightly to press a soft kiss his temple, feeling the heat rush to her cheeks as she did so. She felt him shuffle lightly, but he only sighed and continued to sleep. 

Keeping her face still hovering over his, she said again, “Natsu,” before pressing another kiss on his temple. “Come on, wake up, please? We’re here.” Each phrase punctuated by a feather light kiss. She had no idea why she was doing this; only that she knew that she  _ really  _ wanted to. She decided she would feel embarassed about her actions later when she was in her bed.

She missed the small smile on his face before his eyes flew open. She yelped but didn’t jerk away, as he looked at her. 

“We’re here. Magnolia,” she breathed, and he nodded, not breaking his gaze.

She slowly straightened up, begging for her cheeks to stop blushing. She was sure he could feel the heat radiating off of her face, especially since she was hovering right over his. He sat up as well, breathing in deeply. She stood up, shuffling around to collect their luggage as he reached over her to gather some of the bags. 

Moments later, they got off the train, Natsu being loudly thankful for finally having his feet land on something solid. Just as they stepped out, the train started to pull out of the station. 

“That was close,” said Lucy shaking her head. “A second later and we would’ve been stuck on that, no thanks to you,” she said huffing. 

“ _ Hey  _ it’s not my fault that I have motion sickness and need to fall asleep to get over it,” he said indignantly as he joined her. 

The two of them started walking towards the exit of the train station, shoulders brushing. 

“Besides,” he continued, his fingers brushing against hers between them. “If you’d just tried  _ that  _ way of waking me up from the start, I would’ve been awake in no time,” he muttered, as his hand curled around hers in a firm grip. 

Lucy felt like she’d stopped breathing. She stared straight ahead, resisting the urge to look at their intertwined hands even though his thumb was now rubbing circles on her hand. She was pretty sure smoke was coming out of her ears and her heart was thundering in her chest. She flushed as she realized he could probably hear it as well, so she did not dare to look at him or say anything, afraid to break…. Whatever was going on. 

Seriously, what was going on. 

True, she’d decided to tell him tonight, but if he kept this up, pretty soon there won’t be any words left in her head. 

_ What does he think he’s doing.  _

She was however, snapped out of her daydream - rather, felt a bucket of ice water being poured over her, metaphorically speaking - when she saw Touka standing at the entrance of the station. Apprehensive now, she watched the girl and when she caught sight of the two of them, she started to wave wildly. 

“There you are!”

_ And here you are _ , thought Lucy bitterly. 

“Since I’m your neighbour, I thought I’d tag along with you, Lucy-san!” she said, and much to Lucy’s chagrin, Touka wasn’t even looking at  _ her  _ as she spoke. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” replied Lucy. 

_ It’s alright. I can just tell him tonight anyway.  _

_ Maybe.  _

Lucy started to draw away from him, but was surprised when Natsu didn’t let go. His grip on her tightened as he tugged her back into his side. It was a very subtle tug, but she was sure she hadn’t imagined it. She looked at his face curiously, but only saw that he was smiling pleasantly at Touka. 

The three of them walked towards her house. Natsu didn’t let go of her hand even as she hopped onto the parapet wall on the banks of the canal. Touka was on his other side, talking to Natsu, but Lucy wasn’t really paying attention. 

Her mind was occupied with how she would tell him. Now that they were  _ here _ , she found the task to be even more intimidating. She was still afraid of rejection, but in some ways, that felt like nothing more than an irrational fear. Her gaze went to their interlocked hands, and she felt herself smile again. Small things like this were what she wanted to focus on for confidence. 

As the three of them entered her apartment complex and headed up the stairs, she wondered what she should say. 

_ “Natsu, I’m in love with you.” No, too abrupt. And too much.  _

_ “Natsu, we’re known each other for a very long time, now. We’ve been through so much together and…” Ugh, no. No way would I be able to pull off some elaborate speech when the nerves get to me. _

_ Short and simple. “Natsu. I like you. As more than a friend.” Ha. That’s good Although ‘like’ seems underdesrcibe.  _

_ Maybe she could make him his favourite fire chicken and then - _

“Lucy?” 

A small nudge to her hips broke her out of her daydream.

“Huh?”

“The keys,” he chuckled, letting go of Lucy’s hand to cross them against his chest.

“Oh! Right,” she said sheepishly, twisting her backpack around so it hung off her front. As she fiddled with the zips to find her apartment key, she heard Touka unlock her own door. 

“You can rest here if you want,” she said, and it took everything in Lucy’s power to not turn around and glare at the girl. Instead, she put more vigour into searching for her keys.  _ Damn it. _ She wasn’t even  _ trying  _ to be subtle, thought Lucy with a huff. 

“No, that’s okay,” replied Natsu with a grin. “We’re just here to drop her stuff off.”

Lucy frowned and looked up at him questioningly. But Natsu was looking at Touka, a bright grin on his face. Touka was, however, relentless, as she then said she could prepare them some dinner for later because they would “have no supplies at home since you’ve been away so long”. Lucy knew it was a lost cause then; Natsu never turned down food. 

“Found the keys,” she said weakly, pulling it out of her bag and hurriedly shoving it into the door. 

Natsu surprised her with a chuckle. “Actually we’re having dinner tonight at my place.”

Lucy paused to look at him. “We are?”

“Yep,” he said, giving her one of his brightest grins ever. “Happy flew ahead to get the groceries.”

Then he looked at Touka with a smile. “Thanks for the offer though, Touka-san.”

Lucy blinked at him mulishly, making him roll his eyes. He shoved open her door and pulled her into her apartment, kicking the door closed behind him. He dropped all their luggage to the floor, leaving Lucy to stare at him.    


“What? I’m sure you want a shower now,” he said, arms crossed and an eyebrow quirked.

“Are we really going to your place for dinner?” she asked eyes narrowed.

“Didn’t you hear what I said, weirdo?” he asked quizzically. “Of course, we are. Now  _ go _ .”

Lucy looked at him suspicously. “What’re you upto?”

“ _ Nothing _ ,” he said insistently, pausing for thought. “I just thought that since Happy and I raid your fridge, you deserved a treat of your own. So I’m cooking for ya.”

Lucy was genuinely surprised. Natsu  _ rarely  _ ever cooked. He was a good cook, but he hardly ever cooked. But who was she to complain; she wasn’t in the mood to go shopping for groceries right now anyway. 

“Okay,” she said smiling.  _ I can tell him there, I suppose.  _ “I can’t wait.”

“Good,” Natsu grinned. “See ya there.”

“See you,” she smiled, waving as he left with a wave.  _ Through the door.  _

_ Huh. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I considered doing this in Natsu's POV very seriously, but then I realized, after one of you pointed out that that'd make this story inconsistent, and it'd be odd to have just one chapter in his POV. So I'll continue on in Lucy's POV itself! But it will explain some of his frame of mind as well, as some of you wanted to know, so I hope all in all this won't be disappointing, gosh.
> 
> A lot of you guessed right about this chapter though, hehe.
> 
> Also.
> 
> I feel absolutely ridiculous writing this, knowing what we know about Touka now, lmao, but persevere I must. Thank god I didn't make this a gigantic fic, I am not sure I would've been able to manage that lmao.
> 
> For those who don't follow the manga, read below for spoilers!
> 
> So Touka isn't crushing on Natsu. My good sis is an exceed who is in love with Happy and when she was saved by Natsu-Happy, she thought Happy's name was Natsu. :) Yes, I'm shook as well. Mashima really loves clowning us, no denial about that anymore.

Lucy left her apartment and walked down the road slowly, aware of Touka's eyes on her as she girl watched from her apartment window. She felt maybe, just a little bad, but she was sure she hadn't crossed any boundaries when she had gently let Touka know that _no _she couldn't join her and Natsu for dinner because it was _his _call regarding who to invite _and _that it wasn't really her place to just bring someone along without him knowing about them since _he _was the one making dinner, and was expecting _two _people.

She had been polite of coures, despite the twitch in the girl's eye, and as Lucy turned around the corner, she whipped around suddenly, worried that despite the gentle warning, Touka may have followed.

She carefully scanned the scene, holding her breath till she was sure she no one was following her.

_Good._

* * *

As she entered the woods, she saw a wisp of smoke rising from the direction of his house. Smiling to herself, she walked towards the house, finally coming to a stop when the house came into view. She stood on the end of the gravelly path leading up to his house, and licked her lips nervously as she considered what she was about to do.

No more chickening out, she told herself.

The words were ready in her head.

_Natsu, you're my very best friend in the whole world. _He would grin, beaming at her. Maybe even reach across the little make-shift table in his kitchen and ruffle her hair like she was a kid, calling her a weirdo because he would say he knows that. The table between them was very important so she could channel her nerves into playing with her fingers on her lap, hidden from view.

_We've known each other for a very long time now, haven't we? _He would nod.

_There's something you should know. _He would assure her that she could tell him anything. She would nod and then she would reach across the table and take his hands in hers,_ if_ she felt that brave.

_I was planning to tell you after our quest ended, and I need you to listen to me very carefully and not interrupt, at all, okay? _He would obviously whine about that, and she'd wait for him to finish, and then make him promise not to interrupt. He would oblige, obviously, but with a pout and some amount of confusion, she was sure.

_We've known each other for a very long time. _He would surely interrupt her here - "You already said that, ya weirdo." - and she'd shush him with a threat, daring not to interrupt her again. Now he would know she was serious and thus, would begin the _really _important part of her speech.

She'd take a deep breath.

_We've known each other for so long now that I can't imagine my life without you anymore. You've seen me at my worst and I don't know if you realize it, but if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't be where I am today. I would never had the family that I do today, or living my life the way I wanted to if you hadn't brought me to Fairy Tail. You gave me a home, and a friendship that I cherish more than anything in the world. But over the recent years, especially that one year when I was by myself - _There'd be an interruption here, she was sure, but she'd beat him to it - _I know you don't like to hear about this, and I know you're sorry but - _She'd squeeze his hand reassuringly - _that's not what this is about. I promise. That one year gave me a lot of time to think. About us. Yes, we're friends. I love that. But I realized that you're a lot more to me than that. I've been wanting to tell you for so long but the timing was never right - _Lies, she was just too scared - _what with all the wars we were fighting, and one of us almost always dying - _Throw in a little bit of dark humour to lighten the mod - _but now that we're here, and everything is okay, I need to tell you. More for myself than anything else. I don't really expect you to say anything, or even expect you to feel the same way, okay? I promise. I just need to say it, but you have to promise nothing will change between us. You won't leave me, or anything, okay? _\- Now this was important. She knew he wouldn't, but reassurance. She needed that. So she'd make sure he promised, she nodded to herself solemnly.

She'd take another deep breath, _after _he made the promise of course.

_I love you. As more than a friend. I love you so much that the feeling leaves me breathless sometimes. I love you even when you're an idiot. _And then, based on his reaction on whether or not he understood what she meant, she'd throw in a "_I love you like Bisca loves Alzack" _for clarification's sake.

And then, she'd wait for him to say something.

_Sounds good._

She frowned to herself, shifting her weight on her feet. Said words entirely relied on him not interrupting her, or she'd lose her flow of thought. But he wasn't exactly a man of patience. She started to fret a little because it sounded too long in her head, but _each _and _every, single _word in her speech was important.

"Darn it," she mumbled, kicking at a tiny stone that happened to stand in her way.

She looked up when she heard a chuckle, to see Natsu leaning against the doorframe of his house, arms crossed and looking at her with amusement.

"You gonna stand there kicking the poor little stones and talking to yourself all night?" he asked, grinning at her.

She flushed red as she hastened towards the house, looking sheepish.

"I caught your scent a while back," he stated simply. "How long did you plan on just standing there?"

She laughed nervously as she made her way up the stairs of the porch. "I was just… thinking."

"About?" he asked, stepping aside as she walked past him into his house.

"Stuff," she said simply, as he closed the door behind him and followed her.

"What stuff?"

_Damn, is he persistent._

She walks towards the kitchen and sniffs. "That smells amazing!" she exclaimed turning around to look at him with a grin.

He quirked an eyebrow and she knew he'd noticed her changin the subject, but is thankful when he doesn't push.

"Made your favourite," he said, moving to the kitchen and that's when she noticed the basket on the table. "Come on the food's getting cold."

He extended a hand towards her and she stared at it confusion, as he picked the basket up.

"Luce?" he called again, shaking his hand at her a little for emphasis.

She blinked at it dumbly, then looked at the basket in his hand before robotically taking his hand, still looking confused. He chuckles at her, but doesn't offer much in the way of explanation. His fingers curled around hers and he tugged gently, trying to lead her out through the backdoor in the kitchen.

"I… Where are we going?" she asked as she stepped out behind him. "What about dinner?"

At this point, Natsu simply rolled his eyes, clearly amused that she hadn't caught on to whatever it is that she was supposed to catch on. He waved the basket at her. "We're eating out?"

"We…. are?"

He laughed at that. "What did I just say?"

"That… we're eating out…" she said slowly, walking next to him now, hands still intertwined.

"Exactly," he said. "It's a clear night. I thought it would be great if we could eat under the stars."

Her eyes automatically went up, and she realized he was right. It really was a beautiful night. And then, she realized something.

"There won't be a table," she said lamely, looking at him and she was starting to panic, only a little bit.

He looked at her puzzled, smirking just a little. "No, there won't be. Because we're _out_. On a picnic blanket. By the creek. And… under the stars."

Something on her face made him laugh this time, a guffaw really. "Jeez, Luce. And they call _me _the idiot."

"_Hey_!" she said indignantly, finally snapping out of her stupor and when she attempted to smack his shoulder, she realized that they were still holding hands.

She fell silent again, now looking up at him as he led the way. With the way he wouldn't meet her eyes, she started to feel curious. _What is he upto? _If she didn't know any better, she'd think that this was romantic. She knew he didn't have a romantic bone in his body; he'd told her that himself when they'd _somehow _ended up talking about what their ideas of perfect dates were.

She gauged the possibilities in her head, oblivious to the amused look Natsu gave her as they came to a stop and he let go of her hand to set the basket on the ground. Carefully he retrieved the picnic blanket he'd had Happy buy that afternoon and laid it out on the grass. Looking up, at her, she was still lost.

He cleared his throat and she looked at him, startled at first, and then sheepish.

"Are you okay?" he asked, cocking his head.

"I am," she said, smiling at him warmly, her heart melting at how concerned he looked.

Crouching down, she helped him with the blanket and to lay out the food, internally shocked at how much he'd made. He really had gone all out this time. She wondered casually if they were celebrating something, then shook her head at herself as she slipped out of her shoes to sit down. _She had a mission and she will not be distracted._

As she sat down, she saw with wide eyes Natsu lighting a couple of candles with a short flick of his fingers and setting them carefully on the bottom of an empty, upturned bowl, which he set on the grass in front of the blanket. Then, he slipped out of his sandals and carefully joined Lucy on the blanket, sitting next to her.

She clasped her hands in her lap tightly. _Here goes._

"Natsu, you're my very best friend in the whole world," she said, and to her dismay he was frowning.

Her plan was derailed without the table already, and now this? Where was that grin she was so sure would come her way? What now? _Think Lucy, think._

_We've known each other for a very long time now, haven't we? - _That was the next line._ Say it. Say it, you dumbass._

He had tilted his head at her, his frown only deepening, face confused. Well, sure confusion was part of it, but _not so soon! _She hadn't even gotten to the main part yet. Her panicked look wasn't helping matters, she was sure.

"Luce?" he asked, he looked nervous now.

"Do you not… like this?" he asked, gesturing at the blanket and the food and the candles and all.

She blinked, her worry forgotten, but feeling guilty.

"What, no, I love it! So much!" she said, eyes wide. _Look what you did, you made him feel nervous. Bad Lucy!_

"Then why'd you go and say _that _out of the blue," he asked indignantly.

She crossed her legs now and turned to face him. "Say _what_?"

He looked at her disbelivingly, but she could see confusion on his face. "Natsu, what is going on?"

"You really don't understand?" he asked unsurely.

"Understand... What...?" Hesitation was clear in her voice.

He looked at her blankly for a minute, before groaning, a hand slapping across his face, before looking at her accusingly. "You told me this was your idea of a perfect date!"

"What?" _Yeesh, I've asked that so many times today._

He seemed to have the same thought, because rolling his eyes, he straightened up and sat opposite her, mirroring her position.

"When were coming home from that mission at Hargeon!" he said, impatiently. "We were eating lunch and some _idiot _of a guy came up to our table and asked you out on a date!" he said, scowling.

"Oh, _yeah_." Lucy blinked as her memory grew clearer. "You burnt his pants off! Don't you still deny it, I _know _it was you. Pants just don't spontaneously combust, Natsu!"

"_That _you'll remember," he mumbled, before continuing. "And then we started talking about perfect dates and-"

"And you said you think all that's crap, boring and a waste of time!" she said, looking at him with annoyance as she counted each of those on her fingers. _Where is this even going! Of course, I could count on Natsu to throw me off course, nothing ever goes to plan! _she wailed internally. She only remembered what he said because when her feelings for him grew, that stopped being the idea of her perfect date because well, it would never be something he would do. She hadn't even though that he-

_Wait a second..._

At her words, he started to look a little sheepish and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Yes, well," he said timidly. "That was _before_."

"_Before_?"

He grunted in annoyance. "_Come on, Luce. _I thought it'd be obvious by now!"

_"You told me this was your idea of a perfect date!" **This**, _he had said.

"Is this... a date?" she asked, her voice hushed.

"_Finally_." He exhaled, chuckling at her. "You were actually supposed to figure that out earlier. Why do you think Happy isn't here?"

_Oh!_

Then he looked at her seriously before reaching across and taking her hands in his, his thumb tracing light circles as it brushed over knuckles. _Oh, wow, _she thought.

_"_We've known each other for a very long time now, haven't we?" he started, making her head shoot up to look at him. _Hey, that's my line!_

She nodded, her throat drying up.

"There's something you should know," he said, making her eyes widen again, and she wanted to laugh. _How dare he steal my lines. _"I wanted to tell you for a while now but the timing was... _Ugh, _anyways, I had decided to tell you _after _we finished the quest and I had the perfect way ready because you _said _this is was the idea of a perfect date but _apparently _you don't remember that and-," he paused with a huff, and looked at her in a way that made her cheeks warm.

"_Only _because you said you thought it was crap!" she said defensively.

His eyes widened. "Really? That's why you-" Then he shook his head. "Stop distracting me, you're making me forget my words!" he said petulantly.

_Hmph. Serves you right!_

He breathed in deeply and continued. "Like, I said, I was going to tell you _after _we finished the quest and we're, you know, in the after now, so... But you, um probably already know by now but _anyways _I still need you to listen to me-"

She was physically incapable of taking it anymore. Taking a moment to take her hands out of his grip so she could grasp the collar of his shirt, she pulled him forward and kissed him on the lips. He responded instantly, hands snaking around her back as he pulled her closer and she moved into his lap as she cupped his face, tilting it slightly to deepen the kiss. He groaned slightly and they kissed until they had no choice but to part for air.

"Hey, I had a whole speech planned!" he said raspily.

"Well, so did I!" she argued, resting her forehead against his.

"It's a shame I never got to hear it," he chuckled. "Maybe I should've waited some more," he mused.

"_No," _she said pointedly before looking at him shyly. "The short version of it is that... Well... I love you. I have for a while now. So much that it makes me breathless sometimes."

"Funny," he said, Natsu said and looked up at her, a warm smile on his face as he moved to brush away some hair out of her face. "I was about to say the same thing. I love you too. More than you know."

She beamed at him, proceeding to kiss him again.

Some adventures last forever, and neither of them were complaining.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh damn, was that too corny? (Which is why I haven't proofread, so tell me if there's like, any major errors please!) I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone. I'm not very good with well, happy, cute kind of stuff, especially endings, for some reason... But I hope I did it some justice. Let me know what you think! Thanks for loving it so far, and hope you loved this last one too!
> 
> So now that this is done... I'm thinking of starting one more fic, but idk which... I have SOOO many but currently, I'm conflicted with - a roommate au (romcom type vibes), a soulmate au (two actually - a romcommy one, a dramatic one) and an arranged marriage one... and a college one.. like a new student nerd-jock thing involving a dare (romcom types, but with a twist where she isn't as much a nerd that everyone thinks she is.. hint: her father is on the board of the university so she has to have a certain 'decorum' when at uni, you get me?). I am: confusion. I really like all those ideas but idk which to start with.
> 
> If you haven't already, check out my other fics! I have a super angsty one - Mosaic Broken Hearts - and an FWB thing - Cruel Summer. I really am shamelessly promoting myself, huh.

**Author's Note:**

> WHAT DID YOU THINK! LET ME KNOW. The next chapter is almost done and it will be up pretty soon!!


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